Parasite part three: Parasite
by Cygnus Mues
Summary: Sergeant Coal has gone home to earth. To be greeted by a girlfriend that he never had. He's soon kidnapped, and he realizes that though he may be on vacation, he still has to save Admiral Dane, help two exiles, and all before dinner.
1. This is Spooky

"_He's being followed." _

_ "Of course he's being followed, we're following him."_ The other one joked, peeking over the roof.

_"By somebody else, I mean."_ The first one swatted at her red-gold hair.

"_Oh, yeah. From his countenance though, he doesn't look like a Crow. Must be Federation_." The second one took out miniature binoculars and surveyed the ground below. _"He does have a soldierly gait." _

_ "The first one or the second one, Kagu?" _

_ "The second one_." Kagu said, fiddling with the focus.

_"Ah."_

_ "Hang on!"_ Kagu whispered fiercely. _"He's being followed!"_

_ "Yes, Kagu. We've been through this…"_ The first girl sighed in exasperation.

_"No, by somebody else." _

_ "You mean a second person else is trailing Sergeant Coal?"_

_ "Well, technically, it's a fourth person, if you count us but…Yeah. And this one's definetly Crow. Which is such a shame. He's very handsome."_

Torina rolled her eyes.


	2. Huh?

Chapter Two-HUH?

"_You on him?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "Does he have brown hair?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "Is he muscular?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "Is he slightly tan?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "Does he-"_

_ "Rina, it's him, o.k? Remember, I was stalking him, too."_

_ "Now, Kagu, that's just freaky."_

Coal breathed in Earth's sweet air. 'You don't get this in space.'

"Hey!" A voice called after him. "Hey, Coal! Wait up!"

He froze, and then turned to face the young woman bounding toward him. "Do I know you?" He asked as she took his arm.

"Play along, you're being followed." She whispered with a flick of her black hair. "Really, Coal," she said louder, "does anybody else have tattoos like these?" She held up her arms, displaying two different tattoos on her forearms. Both red bands, one tattoo circled up her left arm, while the other only went around once before traveling up to the back of her hand. "Seriously, you don't expect me to forget my old boyfriend, do you?"

Coal's eyebrows shot up to his hair line. "Oh, sorry, I didn't recognize you." He cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"Oh, just dandy. The other day, my friend Rina and I-"

While she rattled on, Coal took a good look at her, trying to figure out if she was somebody he used to know. Black hair sort of narrowed it down, but the tattoos made it any body's game, especially if they were recent.

'You definitely don't get this in space.'

"Oh. My. Gosh! This is my favorite restaurant!" The girl shrieked, pulling him into a nearby Old Mexican resteraunt, plopping him down on a nearby table.

"They have the hottest food here, it is so refreshing!"

"You know," Coal interrupted, "I have been spending the last five minutes trying to think of your name."

"Oh, Coal! You're such a tease! It's Kagu!"

"Oh, right! I remember now!" 'That settles it. I do not know this chick at all.'

"What can I get for you?"

"Hey, waiter. We would like two sprites and a jalapeno pepper.'

The waiter looked askance at Coal, who just shrugged.

As the waiter walked away, Kagu pulled something onto her lap. "So, Coal, what have you been doing for the past five years?"

"Raiding. Working. Writing reports. Fixing fighters. Trying to talk to Torina."

"Who's Torina?" Kagu interrupted.

Coal shrugged again. "Some chick that I know that you don't."

"Oh. You're just trying to make me jealous."

Coal rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

The waiter approached with two glasses of clear, bubbly liquid and a pepper on a plate.  
>"Thank you!" Kagu seized the drinks and the pepper. "This is the <span>best<span> way to have a Sprite." While the waiter hurried away, she picked up the jalapeno and squeezed it over the two Sprites.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you! This is the best way to have a Sprite!" Kagu handed him a cup of now pink liquid. "Bottoms up!"

Half-heartedly, Coal clinked his glass against hers and began to drink.


	3. Echo

Chapter Three-Echo

There was a ceiling above him. He couldn't remember there being a ceiling in any alley way. 'Wait a minute, this isn't an ally way, this is a bedroom and I'm lying on a bed. Must explain why it's so comfortable…' Coal heaved himself up. The door was open leading out into the hallway. All the fluid rushed to his head, causing a sudden headache.

He knew that it would go away if he ignored it. He'd had hangovers before. Usually after that taking some of that stuff Clark called "medicine".

He swayed a bit as he stood up and walked out the door and down the hallway. As he neared the door at the end of the hallway, his sensitive ears caught chairs scraping and urgent whispering. Then:

"Coal, you up?"

Craggily, Coal swung into the kitchen. "Who's askin?'" He groaned, dumping himself onto a seat at the table.

Kagu shook her head, pausing from washing dishes to get a glass out of the fridge. "I thought you'd be feeling that way. Turning, she clunked the glass down. "Have a pick me up!"

Coal didn't have enough control over his mind to wonder what it was or why it looked so familiar. He picked up the pink liquid, and downed it. He groaned as warmth flooded through his mouth up to his head; his eyes clouded over. Torina's face materialized, worry on her face.

"Sergeant Coal!" Her voice echoed across his memories. "We don't have much time! You're being followed, by both the Federation and  the Crow, an upstart band that General Hoggard is helping. You have to act normal and like you know Kagu. She is your ticket to safety. And, Sergeant, no matter what happens or what you think is happening," Torina gripped his arm, "you will be alright!"

"Torina, they're coming 'round" Kagu's voice slid over to them. Torina turned, worry on her face in her violet eyes…

"What happened last night?" Coal asked as the vision faded.

"We got in a fight. " Kagu remarked, totally unconcerned.

"With who?"

"Somebody in an alley." Kagu shrugged, tossing him a packet of pop-tarts.

Coal caught it easily, mid suddenly clear and headache free.

"Eat all you can." Kagu said opening a closet. "We're going to the mall."

Coal groaned.


	4. In and Out

Chapter Four-In and out

Across the mall from where Coal and Kagu were shopping, two others were also getting some work done.

"It's a cute dress, but I don't think pink is my color." Samus said, holding up the dress so that Torina could see it.

"It is cute, but, I agree: no pink."

"Are they still in line?" Sam asked.

"No, they're at the cash register. Kagu's pushing the buttons at the bottom of the card slider randomly."

Samus giggled quietly. "What's Coal doing?"

"He looks exasperated. And pushed the button on the touch screen."

Sam giggled again. "Those two need to get together."

The prickle on the back of Coal's neck wouldn't go away. He had to keep telling himself not to look back, to act normal, to say something, to pretend indifference. He envied Kagu, who acted as if nothing was wrong in the world. Though in her eyes, he could see fear and caution; eyes constantly roving the crowd.

"-but, really, I don't think this necklace matches the sweater." Kagu held up the sweater and necklace.

"It doesn't." Coal said bluntly.

Somebody hit him in the back of the head and Coal tumbled to the floor, out.

Kagu dealt the security guard a smile, and, pulling out her cell phone, she walked out of the store. "Hey, Nickie…Yeah, it's done. Your man is bringing him in now…O.K…. Thanks, Nickie." Kagu snapped the phone shut and strode confidently out of sight of the federation agent.

Coal felt like he was waking up for the second time that day. His headache was back. But he was not comfortable. A rope around his chest prevented him from falling on his face. As Coal's senses gradually returned, he became more aware of the rope cutting into his ankles as well as the rope that bound his wrists to a pole. Furious, he began straining against the cords.

"They're too strong, kid. It takes a key to get out of these." A grandfatherly voice whispered.

Craning his neck, Coal saw somebody he had only seen before from a distance. "Admiral Dane?"

"Yup. Who are you? How did you end up here?"

"I'm Coal, I work for you. And I don't know. How did you end up here?"

The admiral shrugged. "I came to Earth to interview a young lady that wanted a job. But I told everybody else I came here for some rest."

"Looks like you got it." Coal commented.

Admiral Dane looked at him as best he could through a black eye. "I've felt a lot worse, believe me. As a matter of fact, I think these people have dealings with Space Pirates and a big traitor in the Federation."

"Do you mean General Hoggard?" Coal asked, leaning against the pole.

Dane frowned. "I thought it might've been him. But I didn't think he would dare-"

"Hey you! Stop chatting!" A guard in pieces of armor pretended to hit Coal with the butt of his gun as he passed.

"Of course not. How could you expect two…grand…people to not get reacquainted?" Coal replied.

The guard swerved around and leaned into Coal's face. "I don't. I expect them to get hit before they understand: no talking between prisoners!" The guard straightened up and kicked Coal in the stomach before stomping off.

"Jerk." Coal muttered.

"Moran."

"I like mine better." Coal grumbled again.

Of a sudden, alarms began blaring and guards began running.

"What's happening?" Coal asked.

"Intruders." Dane said, his voice low.

"Could we over poser a guard and get the keys to these ropes?" Coal asked eagerly.

"No. We don't have a way of getting out of the ropes first."

"Hey. Hey you." a female voice echoed over the loudspeaker. "I'm talking to you, Admiral Dane."

"This chick reminds me of Kagu." Coal complained to the old doffer next to him.

"This is Kagu. ("Oh, great!") If you really, really need to get out of those hi-tech, old fashioned cuffs, ask for some-oh shoot!"

"Kagu, did you forget the keyword, again?"

"That sounds like Torina." The admiral mused.

"No, I did not! I always remember something like that!"

"Guys, we need to go." ("And that is Samus.") Get to your positions and don't mess up!"

The microphone was dropped to the floor, echoing the clunk throughout the warehouse. Orders were yelled out to guard the prisoners and make-shift, half armored young people began to line up in front of Coal and Dane, facing away from them.

"What do we do?" Coal mouthed.

Dane just shrugged.

"Is it me, or am I getting warmer?" a ragtag guard whispered to his friend. An orange light reflected off the walls, and through the crowd, Coal could hear the cackle of fire. He and the admiral looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Who's that?"

"Not likely anyone we know."

"What're you doing gawking?"

"She's hot!"

"You're not here to flirt, fire at the female!"

"Oh, shoot!" Coal cried out and the ropes slackened with mechanical whirring. "So, that's how it works!"

Come on! Let's help!" Dane cried, throwing himself on the guards in front of him.

Coal, on the other hand, looked up helplessly to a row of guns pointed at his face. "Would you mind putting those guns away? My wife doesn't care, but I'm a very timid fellow."

"You idiot." Somebody behind the guards said fondly.

As the guards began to turn, they also began to fall, blood gushing from deep slashes. At the center of the fallen Crows, Torina stood, sword and pistol in hands.

"Stand on up, we have to get out here. Admiral, come on, let's go!"

"Hand on a sec!" The admiral yelled back, breaking a guard's neck.

"Dane, come on!" Kagu appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the admiral by a torn sleeve and almost literally dragged him around the corner; Torina and Coal following close behind.

"What happens now?" Coal asked, racing after the others through the door into a dark hallway.

"We go out into the alleyway." Kagu panted lightly, all joking demeanor gone.

"And then?" Coal asked as they veered the corner bursting through another door to sunlight.

"We keep running; we're too near enemy territory!" Torina called over her shoulder as she and Admiral Dane took the lead. "You guys see Sam?" Torina asked, shoving the admiral into a side alley as some rag tag guards appeared ahead of them and fired.

Coal and Kagu swerved after them, glancing over their shoulders. "I do not see her, Rina." Kagu called up to her.

"That is alright, we will just-"

"Halack!" A cord wrapped around Dane's chest and yanked into another side alley. A man in a black, hooded cloak wrapped his arm around the admiral, jumped to the top of the buildings and ran on the roof tops.

Kagu snarled, ran up the side of the wall, jumped, and landed on the roof, immediately giving chase.

Torina skidded to a stop and turned to Coal. "Stay here, and if Samus comes, tell her what happened."

"And if she doesn't?" Coal called after her as she also ran up the wall; landing lightly on the roof.

"Start praying!" Torina yelled over her shoulder as she raced after Kagu.


	5. Fly Away

Chapter Five-Fly Away

Torina hit the roof, stumbled, but continued running; jumping from this roof to the next, finally close to Kagu, the admiral, and the hooded man. Willing herself forward, she dived for the man's legs. At the last second possible, he lifted up his legs easily, and Torina slammed into the roof tiles. Kagu jumped over her and continued running after the man, who was holding a struggling admiral as if Dane wasn't moving at all.

Then Kagu did a running jump, propelling herself through the air rather like she was flying. But right before she landed on the man's back, he turned and kicked an almost vertical roundhouse kick, catching Kagu in the stomach sending her literally flying back the way she came.

Torina slid underneath Kagu's falling body, and leapt up after the man, who continued running towards the transport ship docked a couple roofs away. Leaning down, Torina snagged an old telephone wire, ripping it of the wall and stuffing the end pin into her gun; still running as fast as her mechanical boots could. Hanging on to the end of the wire, Torina aimed for a church steeple, and fired. The pen went straight through the metal of the steeple and stuck.

Kagu blinked, shook of the guilt and unconscious feeling, and jumped; willing the air to carry her up and over.

Torina swung on the wire, half swinging, half running across rooftops to land in front of the man just as Kagu landed behind him.

The hood looked at Torina, swiveled to look at Kagu and then threw Admiral Dane up into the air where a metal claw hanging from the transport aircraft caught him and began to real him in like a fish.

Torina turned to rescue the admiral, when an iron muscle hit the side of her head. Holding the side of her head, she dropped to the roof, and spun her leg around as Kagu began a series of complicated punches.

Black-hood retaliated by kicking Torina in the face, knocking her to the floor, leaving him momentarily free to block Kagu's attack, produce a knife from a pocket in his elaborate cloak, and cut across her chest. Before he could stab Kagu, however, Torina grabbed Black-hood's knife and drove it into his stomach.

Leaving the knife where it was, Black-hood elbowed Torina, shoved Kagu to the roof, whipped around and punched Torina hard in the forehead. She fell to the roof, too weak, too tired to do any more.

The transport ship was still waiting for him. Leaving his opponents on the roof, he jumped up, twirled around and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The engine roared to an even higher level.

Torina barely heard it, so concentrated was she on pulling out her gun, pressing one of the buttons, and pulling the trigger. A small black ball cut through the air, smacking against the side of the aircraft as it soared upward and out of sight.

The two girls breathed heavily, somehow drained of energy. When Kagu spoke, her voice was greatly strained. "I feel…like…someone stabbed me."

"You almost were. Is that close enough?" Torina asked, panting herself.

"Too close. From now on, I'm bringing my quarterstaff." Kagu spoke quietly, but stronger and she was able to haul herself up into a sitting position. "Then I'll kick his butt."

"Kagu," Torina looked back at her, still lying on the roof, "You are doing sage stuff, aren't you?"

"Yes." Kagu self-consciously pulled the collar of shirt just a bit higher so it covered the scar which just a second ago was a gaping wound.

"Here," Torina said kindly as she sat up, and took off her jacket, revealing a blue t-shirt. Handing the jacket to Kagyu, she said: "Can you do…healing to my arm? It's scratched pretty hard from the roof.

Kagu smiled as she put on her friends jacket. "Of course. Just hold your hand out. Yes, like that. And now I hold it like this-"She demonstrated by grasping Torina's mechanical forearm, right where the scratches were.

"And now?" Torina asked respectfully.

"We wait. And try to remain in contact with a Greater Force…"

Torina closed her eyes, sat up straight and dug deep into her heart, where she could always count on finding…whatever she was looking for. Usually it was to make sure she made the right decision but right now-

"Oh…" She sighed, feeling heat sear through each scratch, eliminating any infection. She wanted to open her eyes, but she couldn't. Some internal sense told her not yet, not yet…

And then the pain was over, all of it. There was no stinging of fragments of roof tiles, no fiery sensation. Opening her eyes, Torina studied her left arm. There wasn't even any sign that she fell. "Thanks for that Kirikagu."

"I won't do it again if you call me that." Kagu threatened lightly, standing up and walking to the edge of the roof.

"Ah, come on! Your name is a classic!" Torina exclaimed, following suit.

"Do you even know what it means?"

"One who is awesome?" Torina guessed.

"Life of fire." Kagu responded just before she jumped.

"See? I told you it meant 'one who is awesome.'" Torina called before she jumped after her.


	6. Too late, too late

Chapter Six-Too Late…Too Late

Coal and Samus ran into the street, scanning the area. Samus tapped Coal on the shoulder, and pointed across the road. Kagu and Torina sat on the edge of the sidewalk, looking at something in Torina's hand.

"Torina, baby, what're you looking at?" Samus called, walking across the empty street.

"It's tracking Admiral Dane." Kagu responded, waving at Samus.

"You lost him?" Coal asked, lowering his voice.

"No, he's heading toward Velain."

"No, I meant the man in black took him away, didn't he?"

There was a short silence. "Yeah." Torina said shortly.

"But we know where he is!" Kagu said enthusiastically. "We can go get him!"

Coal looked at her. "I'm confused. First, you're care free. Then you're serious, now you're enthusiastic. What's happening?"

"Mood swings." Kagu replied jauntily.

"Right…"

"Where is he now, Torina?" Samus interrupted.

"He's gone past Velain and landed on Akull."

"We can get there and get Dane out! Come on!" Samus turned and began to run toward the alley.

"Wait!"

Sam slowed to a stop.

"Akull is… it means ice in Abanian." Torina stood, clutching her palm computer. "And I've looked into it. It's really cold there, and Kagu and I might not…" The two looked at each other, "we might not survive."

"Why not?" Coal asked.

"We grew up in an extremely hot environment. We…" Kagu looked at Torina.

"We don't sense heat as well as you do. But we feel cold acutely."

"So, right now it may feel warm to us, but you feel slightly cold?"

"If ever so slightly." Kagu answered.

"So I was wondering," Torina cut in, "if there is some sort of equipment we can use to keep the environment at a neutral temperature?"

"I was hoping to be let out at the next available bus stop." Kagu said, standing up and facing Torina with a "You-promised-I-was-through-with-this" look on her face.

Tory sighed. "Well, I was wondering…"

"Hang on." Kagu interrupted. "Is he going, too?" She said pointing at Coal.

"Yeah," Coal said, suddenly annoyed. "I am."

"Then never mind. I am sticking to my sister like glue." Kagu said, striding off with Samus back down the alley way.

"Then why isn't she stuck to your arm?" Coal asked in a quiet whisper.

"Don't ask…Hey, wait a minute!" Kagu looked over her shoulder at Torina, smiling at Tory's outburst. "When of earth were you and I sisters?"

"No idea."

"That solves a lot of problems."


	7. Coal's Condo

Chapter seven-Coal's Condo

"I still can't believe you have a condo!" Kagu exclaimed, kicking the door clean off of its hinges, ignoring it as it flew onto the staircase, and raced into the kitchen.

Coal and Samus flinched, still standing on the doorstep.

"Um, Kagu?" Torina called after her friend, following her into the kitchen. "You do know he has to pay for that, right?"

"Right." Kagu said confidently. Torina could see her pull open the fridge from across the counter in the middle of the room.

"I meant the door, Kagu. The one not connected to the wall?"

Kagu looked up from the door of the fridge. "In that case, no."

Torina sighed and pulled a wallet out of her jacket's inner pocket as Samus and Coal lifted the door back into place.

"Whenever I come home, I work on some inventions. I don't get to work on them much, but I do have time to upgrade some old stuff." Coal explained, opening a glass door to the dining room and switching on the light.

The table was cluttered with wires and scratch pieces of paper. On the opposite side, against the wall, a white sheet covered up two human-like things leaning against the wall. Coal crossed the room quickly and whipped off the sheet.

Samus gasped. "Those are model D-39's. My old mentors used these." Samus ran across the room and lay a fervent hand on the Federation armor. "How did you get them?"

"I asked Colonel Tabag who got permition from some general."

"Tabag?" Torina asked, standing in the door way connecting the kitchen and the dining room, looking slightly amused.

"Yeah." Coal grinned sheepishly. "I burst out laughing when I heard it."

Torina stepped up to the table, motioning to the suits as she asked: what work did you do on it?"

"I put in a heater/AC system and I worked on how long the batteries would last. Recently I've been trying to work on the maneuverability but I haven't- Where did you get that Sprite!" Coal said interrupting himself, looking aghast over Torina's shoulder at Kagu.

"It was in your car."

Torina giggled. "So I wouldn't be able to use my sword?" She asked, interrupting the glare contest.

"Not really, but it does have guns built into its arms." Coal said turning back to the armor.

"Cool." Kagu said absently, leaning against the door frame. "But there's only two."

"I'll be fine." Coal shrugged. "I'll just bundle up like they used to back in 2020."

"Don't you have a suit of armor of your own?" Tory asked, looking up from an assortment of wires on the table.

"I had to turn that in to come on leave." He explained patiently.

"Yeah. And you don't get it back until your leave is up." Samus added.

"Incidentally, when is that?" Kagu yelled from the kitchen.

"Today, tomorrow, and on the third day I have to go back."

"So, shouldn't we hurry?" Kagu asked mouth full of something. "We got today and tomorrow to rescue-"she paused, slurping something. Torina, Coal and Samus looked at each other, and then began to walk quietly toward the kitchen. "-Admiral Dane, and that's not very-" Kagu turned to see the three of them staring her down as she held a small canister of yogurt, "-long." She finished.

"I'm not paying for that." Torina said, half serious half teasing.

Kagu sighed. "Rina, I haven't eaten breakfast. I'm hungry. And the least that Sergeant Coal can do is repay me for our date yesterday.

"Then it's not a date!" Coal protested.

"Uh…" Torina said, confused.

"It's when two people, usually a dude and a gal," Samus explained, "go off and do an activity to get to know each other."

"Usually the guy pays." Kagu added.

"And since I didn't pay, technically it's not a date." Coal said fanatically.

"Actually, it's still a date. I just paid." Kagu said in a resigned tone.

"So," Torina said slowly. Coal's face rotated, watching her expression. "You went on a date with Kagu. How was it?"

"It was murder." Coal said instantly.

"Agreed." Kagu exclaimed. "Let's not do that again."


End file.
